Books by Anya Foxen
Is This Yoga?: Concepts, Histories, and the Complexities of Modern Practice
Routledge Press, 2021
Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism, Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga
Biography of a Yogi: Paramahansa Yogananda and the Origins of Modern Yoga
Articles by Anya Foxen
International Journal of Hindu Studies, 2024
This article explores the ways in which the sexed body and its gendered subjectivity are construc... more This article explores the ways in which the sexed body and its gendered subjectivity are constructed and expressed by Vais ˙n ˙ava devotional poets of both sexes. In short, it is an experiment to see if a reading of bhakti poetry alongside gender theory can allow us to gain a better understanding of both fields. What happens when a bhakti poet chooses to speak as a man speaking as a woman, as opposed to a woman speaking as a woman? In the final analysis, neither the male poetic voice nor the female poetic voice necessarily offers a more direct or essential experience of bhakti, but rather both are expressions of the possible but inevitably contingent modes of experiencing oneself as a devotee. From a gender theory perspective, to choose to speak in a male poetic voice necessitates an imagining of the subjectivity of the Other, whereas the taking on of a female poetic voice forces the paradox of the Other becoming the Self.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Postural yoga, due to its rising cultural and economic capital, has been adopted as a fundamental... more Postural yoga, due to its rising cultural and economic capital, has been adopted as a fundamental aspect of Hindu religious identity and touted as India’s universal gift to the world. This article interrogates the implications of accepting a partially foreign—or at least syncretized—and even secular practice as effecting the ritual teleology of an existing religious system. More broadly, it asks under what circumstances might a physical fitness program become religious practice. To answer these questions, it examines the calisthenic system propagated in pre-World War II America by Paramahansa Yogananda, which despite not being called yoga or resembling the asanas or today was its function was identical both to the modern postural forms practiced in yoga studios across the world and to the energetic rituals of medieval Indian hatha yoga.
Zygon®, 2016
The intersection between quantum theory, metaphysical spirituality, and Indian-inspired philosoph... more The intersection between quantum theory, metaphysical spirituality, and Indian-inspired philosophy has an established place in speculative scientific and alternative religious communities alike. There is one term that has historically bridged these two worlds: “Akasha,” often translated as “ether.” Akasha appears both in metaphysical spiritual contexts, most often in ones influenced by Theosophy, and in the speculative scientific discourse that has historically demonstrated a strong affinity for the brand of monistic metaphysics that Indian-derived spiritualities tend to foster. This article traces the relationship between these groups with special attention to the role of Indian concepts and terminology. More specifically, it argues that Akasha-as-ether comes to operate in a manner that bridges gross matter (of which the individual mind is part and parcel) with the notion of a subtle material and transpersonal mind—a version of panpsychism allowing for a coherent quantum monism.
Book Chapters by Anya Foxen
Living Folk Religions, 2023
How seriously should one take the "soul" in SoulCycle, a popular brand of indoor cycling ("spin")... more How seriously should one take the "soul" in SoulCycle, a popular brand of indoor cycling ("spin") classes? More or less seriously than the exhortation by CorePower Yoga, the popular yoga studio chain, that its classes are "soulrocking"? What about the statements of Renaissance Neo-platonist Marsilio Ficino, who tells us that in order to nourish our souls, we should "exercise by keeping constantly in motion and make various circular movements like those of the heavenly bodies" (Ficino 373)? This chapter positions wellness practices-especially those focused on physical fitness‚ such as modern postural yoga or spin-and the larger cultural contexts (which we might call "wellness culture") where such practices thrive within a history of complex intersections between religion, health, and self-cultivation. Even more specifically, we'll focus on how today these practices enable and are in turn enabled by the phenomenon of the "lifestyle brand," which has come to serve as a powerful organizing principle among the growing demographic identifying as "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), a term to which I'll return shortly. As a loose network of concepts and practices, enacted by individual and communities outside the formal confines of religious institutions, wellness culture thus serves as a modern form of folk religion that approaches the ideal of spiritual salvation as a practical and lived reality. The intersection of religion and health (whether as active healing or more expansive notions of wellness) has been well documented by scholars of Western spirituality. A brief survey follows, ranging from the broad to the more specific. Wouter Hanegraaff, in his study of New Age religion, argues that such traditions place a core emphasis on healing, which they indelibly link to a larger agenda of "personal growth," resulting in a vision of religious salvation where the "aim is not the elimination of suffering, but the promotion of health" (46). By this, Hanegraaff means "Health in the sense of radical 'well-being,' which is the 19
The Assimilation of Yogic Religions through Pop Culture, 2017
Book Reviews by Anya Foxen
Review of The Gnostic New Age: How a Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion from Antiquity to Today, by April D. DeConick. New York, NY: Columbia University Press , September 2016. 392 pages. $35.00. Hardcover. ISBN 9780231170765.
Review of The Afterlife of Sai Baba: Competing Visions of a Global Saint by Karline McLain. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press , May 2016. 278 pages. $45.00. Hardcover. ISBN 9780295995519.
Review of From Yoga to Kabbalah: Religious Exoticism and the Logics of Bricolage, by Véronique Altglas. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. 408 pp., £64.00 (hb), £22.99 (pb). ISBN 978-0-19-999762-6 (hb), 978-0-19-999763-3 (pb).
Review of Religion and the Subtle Body in Asia and the West: Between Mind and Body by Geoffrey Samuel and Jay Johnston, eds. New York: Routledge, 2013. 282 pages.
Review of Strong Arms and Drinking Strength: Masculinity, Violence, and the Body in Ancient India by Jarrod L. Whitaker. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. 240 pages.
Review of A History of Modern Yoga: Patañjali and Western Esotericism, by Elizabeth De Michelis. Continuum, 2004. 282 pages, 14 b&w illustrations. Pb., $49.95, ISBN-13: 9780826487728
International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 2014
Review of The American Soul Rush: Esalen and the Rise of Spiritual Privilege, by Marion Goldman. New York University Press, 2012. xii + 207pp., 13 b&w illustrations. $30.00, ISBN-113: 9780814732878
International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 2014
Bibliographies and Encyclopedia Entries by Anya Foxen
Gender and Sexuality (Oxford Online Bibliographies in Hinduism)
Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets, 2015
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Books by Anya Foxen
Articles by Anya Foxen
Book Chapters by Anya Foxen
Book Reviews by Anya Foxen
Bibliographies and Encyclopedia Entries by Anya Foxen